real sailing now

Playing cat and mouse with the calms is no longer the name of the game. We are now in real sailing, on close haul with a little over 21 knots on apparent wind and we are progressing real well in almost the right direction. Unfortunately, we expect the wind to veer to a more northerly direction, which means that we will probably sail south of the course. I only hope that we will not have to tack too much as it will add significantly to the distance left to go.
We no longer need the engine, at least for today. Between 8:30 this morning and 6:00 this afternoon, we went from minus 215 amp/hour to minus 145, which is a net gain of 70 amp/hour for the day. If we remain very cautious in our use of electricity, we might do away with the engine for another day.
At 6 this afternoon (TU-3), we are by 32:43 N and 50:29 W we 1121 miles to go on a direct course. The grib files tell us that we will have to do at least one tack, which will add to the distance. How much, we don't know yet.
This morning, we topped up the coolant in the engine and this afternoon, we could not see any leak. But we have not started the engine so we don't know yet if the mishap was a temporary thing caused by a low level of coolant.
We have to getting used to live on a close haul situation. We don't have yet to walk on the bulkheads though. Papy Jovial does not list a lot, most of the time 15 degrees, but that is enough, added to the jerky motion caused by the seas, to make cooking or washing dishes not very comfortable.
Tonight, chicken and rice with veggies mixed in it.


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